Sick of the cold? Head for Alaska

Jan. 23, 2014
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Masts rising from fishing vessels in Sitka, Alaska, partially block the view of mountains Monday, Jan. 20. Temperatures this week in Alaska have been milder than many spots in the Lower 48. / Mark Thiessen, AP

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

by Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

Sick of the cold? Head for Alaska, where some towns Thursday morning were warmer than in Florida.

Indeed, while most of the central and eastern U.S. endures yet another round of bitterly cold air thanks to the now-infamous Polar Vortex, folks in Alaska are asking, "Where's winter?"

In Fairbanks, "We could set some record-high temperatures over the next few days," said Ed Plumb, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service forecast office in Fairbanks.

The warmth is due to the same wild wiggle of the jet stream that's bringing the arctic chill as far south as the Gulf Coast, where a winter storm warning is in effect in south Texas. "A large ridge of high pressure over western North America is allowing air from the subtropics to flow all the way up into Alaska," Plumb said.

How warm? While Thursday's forecast high of about 40 degrees in Fairbanks may not sound all that balmy, consider that the average high this time of year is a frosty 1 degree, and the average low -17 degrees.

It's possible that the all-time Alaska state record January high of 62 degrees could be broken later this week.

"It's kind of something we've seen a lot of lately," said meteorologist Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground. "You get major kinks in the jet stream. You get warm air where you don't usually see it in the North and cold air where you don't see it very often in the South."

So far this month, weather stations in the Lower 48 have broken or tied more than 2,600 records for cold, while Alaskan weather stations have broken or tied more than 20 daily temperature records for warmth.

Alaska's relative warmth has shut down ski slopes and caused some road problems. For instance, Plumb said the forecast calls for light freezing rain in Fairbanks today, which will lead to ice-covered, treacherous roads.